1. The way my mother speaks

2. I say her phrases to myself in my head
or under the shallows of my breath,
restful shapes moving.
The day and ever. The day and ever.
Quietly, but shallow breathing is also a symptom of anxiety
Paradox. The train makes moving restful. The confusion echoes the confused feelings of the persona
Repetition mimics the movement of the train

3. The train this slow evening goes down England
Broad vowels slow reading down, echoing the slowness of the journey away from home
The train this slow evening
goes down England
browsing for the right sky,
too blue swapped for a cool grey.
For miles I have been saying
What like is it
the way I say things when I think.
Nothing is silent. Nothing is not silent.
What like is it.
Assonance highlighting more contradiction and confusion in the persona’s feelings. Blue skies represent happiness, grey misery.
More contradiction – double negative perhaps reflects the persona’s ambiguous feelings about leaving home.
Thin, sharp vowel contrast with broad vowels at the beginning of the stanza. Convey feeling of anxiety?

4. who stood at the end of summer and dipped a net
Only tonight
I am happy and sad
like a child
who stood at the end of summer
and dipped a net
in a green, erotic pond. The day
and ever. The day and ever.
I am homesick, free, in love
with the way my mother speaks.
More contradiction, but using contrast in a more confident and positive way.
Beginning of one life and end of another. Nostalgia for the world of childhood but new world offers unplumbed depths of possibility to explore
Nostalgia. Ready for her new life, leaving the old one behind but still a support to her.
Repetition again emphasising that the journey is still in progress.